Reference Data Fields 

Each time data enters the database, either upon initial entry of a locality or species, or upon updating (adding or replacing data for a locality or species that is already in the database), one must give one or more references for the source of the information, or for the work upon which inferences were based. These references may be formal, published works. A reference may also be the personal, ongoing research of a data coordinator, or, conceivably, a "personal communication" from someone not otherwise involved in contributing data to the project. In this case, you must enter in full the First Author and the Date of Publication (in this case, the current year), and enter in the Title field "original research," "personal communication," or whatever. 

There may be any number of references associated with a given update of a locality or species. References, once entered, can be re-used in association with additional species or localities. The Database software allows the operator to locate and re-use reference records in this way.

 The data fields for references are described below. Fields for species references and locality references are identical, and, in fact, the same reference entity in the Database can be associated with either species or localities, or both.

 Citation

 The source of a literature reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not to exceed 300 characters.

 

DESCRIPTION

 The full citation of the reference, in Paleobiology format (except for italicization). Thus, for journals: J. Omnology 124: 1-54. For Books: Vanishing Press; Chicago, Illinois. For edited volumes: Pp. 192-215. In: T. J. M. Schopf, ed. Models in Paleobiology. Freeman, Cooper & Co.; San Francisco.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.citation

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 Date of Publication

The year of publication of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character string not exceeding 4 characters. MANDATORY FIELD.

 

DESCRIPTION

 Year of publication of a reference -- or, the date information was obtained, if this is not a published reference. Internally, all references are assigned unique ID numbers by the computer, and kept track of using the ID. However, most of the time researchers will want to search on or specify references by first author's last name (at least) and by date (this is why these fields are mandatory). Multiple references by the same first author in the same year are still distinguished internally by their ID numbers; searching by author and date alone will pull up a list of all references matching the query.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

ref.date

 

ALLOWED VALUES
 

Any

 First Author

 The last name of the first author of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 20 characters. MANDATORY FIELD.

 

DESCRIPTION

 The last name of the first author of a reference. This field will be used to retrieve the reference, so be careful with spelling. See First Initials.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.author_1

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 First Initials

 Initials of the first author of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 8 characters.

 

DESCRIPTION

 Initials of the first author of a reference. See First Author.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.first_1

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 Other Authors

 

 A list of authors beyond the second author, if any, for a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 150 characters.

 

DESCRIPTION

 Use this field to record authors of a reference, in excess of two. List them with initials first, followed by last name, and separated by a comma: O. Park, T. Park, K. P. Schmidt. This field will not usually be used for searches.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.others

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 Second Author

 The last name of the second author of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 20 characters.

 

DESCRIPTION

 The last name of the second author of a reference, if there is one. See Second Initials, Other Authors.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.author_2

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 Second Initials

 Initials of the second author of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 8 characters.

 

DESCRIPTION

 Initials of the second author of a reference. See Second Author.

 

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.first_2

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any

 Title

 The title of a reference.

 

DATA TYPE

 A character field not exceeding 300 characters in length.

 

DESCRIPTION

 The title of the reference, in Paleobiolgy format (For journal articles: Omnology at the crossroads. For Books: Omnology has Passed its Peak.).

INTERNAL TABLE.FIELD NAMES

 ref.title

 

ALLOWED VALUES

 

Any


 
 

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